Malabar River Festival highlights Kerala's backwater culture

The ninth edition of the Malabar River Festival opens at Thusharagiri in Kozhikode, Kerala on 4th August. The three-day event, organised by the Kerala Adventure Tourism Promotion Society and the Kozhikode District Tourism Promotion Council will be held at Iruvanjhipuzha and Chalipuzha rivers at Thusharagiri. 

Besides Indian Kayakers, paddlers from ten countries including the US, UK, Israel, Kazakhstan and South Africa are participating in the event. The competition will be held in Kayak Slalom, Boardercross and Down River events. 

The National Whitewater Kayaking Championship will also be held as part of the Malabar River Festival this year. 

The event has an open category for men and women, whose paddling skills should be Class 3 and above. The intermediate category is for amateur boaters with a paddling skill of Class 2. Based on their power, the rapids are categorised into classes one to six.

Malabar river festival is considered as one of Asia’s largest whitewater kayaking competitions.

Kayaking is a fun water sport. It involves the use of a kayak, a narrowboat with a double-blade paddle to move on water. 

• Chalipuzha is a tributary of the river Iruvanjhipuzza and bears the famous waterfall Thusharagiri. It joins the Chaliyar river, the fourth longest river in Kerala.

Some of the famous rivers of Kerala are Periyar, Bharathapuzha, Bhavani, Pamba,and Chaliyar.